Tag: vegetarian stir fry

Mushrooms are delicious! There is no type of mushroom that I don’t like. King oyster. Shiitake. Oyster. Portabello. Enoki. Cremini. Morels. Black trumpet. The textures, tastes, and appearances all differ, and it’s like a whole different world out there! I am sad for all those people who don’t like mushrooms. If you are a mushroom hater, don’t give up! Keep trying different types of mushrooms until you find one you like..

My personal favorite (considering cost) that I use a lot is the king oyster or king trumpet mushroom. My mom and I affectionately refer to it as the baseball bat mushroom. It is very hearty and does not leach out too much water, as long as you don’t cook it too long, and cook with high heat. And the texture!

This dish pays homage to shredded pork with bean curd, xiang gan rou si （香乾肉絲）, commonly found on Chinese restaurant menus (especially at Shanghainese places). I made a variation of this dish in college for two guy friends, and they gobbled it up!

Taiwanese cabbage is flat instead of spherical like the green cabbage we see in most American grocery stores. Taiwanese cabbage is less dense than American cabbage, and its layers, as you can kind of see in the picture, are more loosely packed. Its layers are thinner, and crisp up very well when cooked. In general, the taste is lighter and more refreshing than normal green cabbage, in my opinion. Below is a picture of the Murdoc cabbage from this week’s CSA. I believe its alternate name is ‘pointed head cabbage’- the cabbage looks like a little cone (pre-cutting, obviously)! It’s pretty cool. The picture on the right is “Taiwan cabbage” apparently, and ignore the yellow, but it’s the only picture with a cross section I could find. I found Murdoc cabbage to be a great substitute for Taiwanese cabbage, and good thing, because that was one big cabbage!

Murdoc cabbage is on the left; Taiwanese cabbage is on the right. Look at the loosely packed leaves!

Today I’m sharing the recipe for a standby cabbage stir-fry dish…cabbage and garlic, up a notch. My mom used to cook cabbage and garlic for us, as a simple and tasty vegetables. I have since come to really love the Taiwanese cabbage.

For best results, cook this cabbage on the highest heat you can without burning the garlic (hence the slices instead of minced or chopped). The high heat helps to evaporate the water that is being released by the cabbage, so that it doesn’t just get boiled. I’m sure most people have eaten some iteration of cabbage and garlic, but I like this cooking method because I feel that the ginger gives the cabbage an extra dimension besides garlic alone. The heat from the peppers is also nice to lift the dish a bit. This would be a good accompaniment to any Chinese or even just Asian meal that needs some vegetables.

Tim loves this stuff, and perks up when hears that cabbage will be in the dinner spread. I hope you will love it, too! 🙂

1) Separate the chunks of cut cabbage into its individual leaves. This will help them cook more evenly and quickly.

2) Heat ginger, garlic, peppers, and oil in a wok on low/medium low until they just start to smell.

3) Immediately add cabbage, stir quickly to move aromatics around, and increase the heat. Saute until cabbage starts to lose water and turn more translucent. Add salt and continue to saute until the cabbage is cooked. If you are in doubt of the doneness of the cabbage, taste a piece! Also, the volume of the cabbage will shrink by about 2 when it is completely cooked.

4)Take out ginger slices if you like (hence the thick slicing instructions).

5) Eat!

Notes/Substitutions: -Turn the heat down and add salt earlier, to turn this into a dish with juicy, tender cabbage. -I used long red peppers that HMart labeled something like “Thai Finger Long Peppers”. I’ve also used bird’s eye chilies, which are spicier. -I personally really dislike biting into ginger, so I pick around it, but you can also take out the slices once the dish is cooked. -Murdoc cabbage, or pointed head cabbage, is extremely similar in both taste and texture as Taiwanese cabbage. Use it as a substitute if you, like me, received it in your CSA share. -Green cabbage is okay in this dish, but it definitely won’t have the same texture, which I think is half of the enjoyment of eating this! But, you can be the judge of that, if and when you try it.

I got some zucchini from one farmer fairy (thanks, Ron and Terry!), and had leftover basil from my other farmer fairy (thanks, Patti!) to use up.

-Slice some zucchini (I used 1+3/4 zucchini) into thin slices on the diagonal. -Roughly chop garlic (I used 3 cloves) -Add garlic to cold oil, and add the zucchini to the warmed oil. -Add some salt and saute in olive oil until the zucchini is just tender; turn the heat off. -Mix in sliced basil to zucchini as you transfer it to your serving plate or bowl. I used 8-9 HUGE leaves!

I love mushrooms. I love the bouncy yet meaty texture, and I love the different tastes imparted by different varieties of mushrooms!

One of my favorites is the king oyster mushroom, pictured below in the front:

Picture from wikimedia

King oyster mushrooms are very hearty mushrooms that I like to describe as baseball-bat shaped. Tim has referred to them accidentally as prince mushrooms 😀

These king oysters are great in hotpots and well as soups. I’m sure they would also be fantastic on the grill! The appearance, taste and texture of the king oyster mushroom is similar to that of the Nebrodini Blanco mushroom, which our favorite chefs at KooZeeDoo grilled to perfection when they were still in business.

King oyster mushrooms are also “meaty” enough that I once included in the spread of dishes I made for two college boys (one with quote a voracious appetite, might I add). They said that they were full and satisfied, and that they couldn’t believe they had had a meatless meal! This was in my Cafe 1010 days, which is a different story for a different post.

Okay, so I had these king oysters in the fridge, and I needed to use them up before our trip to Chicago over the long weekend. I have been trying to remember to cook with a variety of colors, so I whipped something together. It turns out that these ingredients went pretty well together, and they are a nice and simple dish to accompany dinner.